Ashes
by thegoatromantic
Summary: A HG/SS Songifc. Hermione secretly pines for her professor, Severus Snape, but isn't allowed to love him. Written for the Katamabob's Random Song Challenge.  Song: 'Ashes' by KT Tunstall


Author's Note: I do not own any of the characters in this story. All characters and etc. belong to J. K. Rowling.

Author's Note II: This is my first posted attempt at fanfiction! Review it however you'd like; postive, negative, I'll take it all! The song for this story was given to me by Katamabob for her Random Song Challenge. The song used in this story is 'Ashes' by KT Tunstall. Enjoy!

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**Ashes - A HG/SS Songfic**

_I am a pain in your ass  
And I'm wondering how long it's gonna last  
Be my mirror, be my friend,  
Be the workhouse of the energy  
I twist your arm to spin_

Hermione hummed quickly to herself and looked around. Hadn't anyone else noticed the error in the book? It was such an obvious error. She looked around a few times and sighed dejectedly. Nobody else had noticed. I guess it's up to me to point it out, she thought as she raised her hand and waited for Snape to call on her. When he turned around and noticed her hand in the air, he sighed and rolled his eyes at her. "Yes, Miss Granger? What is it now?"

"Professor, I found an error. Shouldn't this say 3/4 cup dragon scales instead of 1/2 cup? And then it says to stir for 15 minutes, but shouldn't it be ten? 15 would be way too long; the potion will get thick and hard to work with if we stir it for 15 minutes." Snape sighed and turned around.

"Of course, Miss Granger. Now please, sit down and stop interrupting my class for your pointless observations." Hermione crossed her arms and sat down, looking back at the pages of her textbook. Snape continued to teach in his slow, deep voice. Hermione listened to him for a few minutes but she looked back down toward her textbook once again. After reading a few lines she gasped and looked toward the front of the classroom. For some reason, Snape was looking at her and he stared her dead in the eyes, eventually seeing the twinkle in them. He cringed as he realized what it meant and she raised her hand again with a huge grin on her face, waiting for him to call on her.

___Everyday, like a power station  
You know it isn't good  
I know you're burning too much wood  
Oh, and you burn out  
The twisted irony is  
Your ashes come home to me  
Come home to me_

Hermione snuck through the hallways of the dungeons, stopping to look around the slimy stone walls before running to the next corner. She hadn't been caught yet, and she was glad. That is to say, this wasn't the first time she had snuck out to the dungeons after curfew, and this certainly wasn't the last time she planned on doing it either. She had no clue what kind of excuse she would give for sneaking around in the dungeons after hours if she happened to be caught. I was just, you know, sneaking away to see Professor Snape, she thought sarcastically. There was no way any of the professors would accept an excuse like that from her, even if it was true.

She was getting closer to her destination, the potions room, and she was about to turn and run around the last corner but stopped dead in her tracks when she realized that there was a second set of footsteps walking down the hallways. Her heart started to beat a million times faster and she gasped quietly for breath. It seemed that her lucky streak might just be running out and Hermione silently prayed that whoever was around the corner wouldn't realize that she was there.

The footsteps paused suddenly and Hermione could practically hear her heart beating against her ribcage. The blood rushed through her ears like a raging waterfall and she felt her veins go cold. This was it. She was going to die mere feet from Snape's classroom door, only steps away from her goal. What a shame, she thought, fighting the urge to cry out.

_So we take a walk  
To make some sense  
And I'm wondering if you fancy my advance  
I have pushed you  
Way too far  
And you say Fuck you little princess  
Who the hell do you think you are?_

The footsteps started moving again and Hermione wished her mind wasn't so scattered; perhaps if she was thinking correctly she could have thought of a spell to hide her or to disguise her, but it was too late and the footsteps were just on the other side of the corner, and as they rounded the corner, Hermione gasped and slammed her eyelids shut, hoping it was all just a bad dream that she would soon wake up from.

Snape turned the corner and was shocked to find Hermione Granger cowering against the wall. He had heard a noise outside of his classroom and decided to go investigate, and perhaps assign some detention, but he had never expected to find Hermione Granger pressed against the cold and grimy wall with fear. He steeled his voice and began to scold her.

"Miss Granger, what exactly do you think you're doing in the dungeons at this hour of the evening? Are you not aware of the consequences for this type of behavior?" Snape looked down at Hermione, who was looked completely shocked to see Snape standing in front of her. She almost looked relieved. Perhaps happy as well? Snape released a breath of air in a way that reminded Hermione of a dragon. How fitting for Snape to remind her of a lizard. He cleared his throat, reminding Hermione where she was and what she was doing. Blood rushed to her face as the facts flew at her again: Snape had caught her lurking around the corner from his classroom in the dungeons after curfew.

"Well, um." Hermione stuttered, something she had never done before. Somehow, she managed to think of something. "Will you take a little walk with me, Professor?" Hermione looked up at him hopefully, her cheeks still burning bright red. She thought she might pass out from the heat and the intensity of having to wait for him to respond, which he took his sweet time doing. He looked around as if he suspected there was some sort of trick waiting for him should he say yes. When no danger was found, he looked down at her and sighed.

"I suppose."

Hermione let out the breath that she had been holding and began to walk quickly down a hallway of the dungeons. At first only her shoes were heard clicking on the damp stones, but soon a second set of clacking was heard and she knew he was following her. She realized that she was far ahead of him and slowed her pace a little bit to wait for him. With a few of his long strides, he had caught up to her and they were walking side by side down the silent hallway.

Hermione chided herself mentally. Talk to him, she thought, that was the whole point of sneaking down here in the middle of the night! You look like a fool! Just do it already! Hermione shook her head and glanced over at her Professor, who was walking without expression. He acted like she wasn't even there. Hermione felt her heart squeeze a little at the realization.

"Professor, " she squeaked out. He looked down at her from the corner of his eye and waited for her to continue speaking. "I...well...How do I put this? I think you need me, Professor."

Snape looked at Hemione with wide eyes. "Need you, Miss Granger? I'm afraid I don't understand."

Hermione nodded and stopped walking. "I think you need me." She grabbed Snape's hands and pulled them to her stomach as looked him in the eye. Before he was able to get his hands away from her, she reached up on her tiptoes and kissed him. Her eyelids fluttered shut for a moment and then she quickly opened them, unable to bask in the feeling of their connected lips for very long. Hermione, slightly dazed, lost control of his hands and he tugged them away violently. Hermione looked up at him sheepishly. He was furious.

"Granger!" he bellowed. "What do you think you're doing! 100 points from Gryffindor! Behavior such as that is unacceptable!" His lips were still tingling from their kiss and it was driving him crazy. His body shouldn't be having a reaction like this to a kiss from Hermione Granger, a student, an annoying know-it-all. "Report immediately back to your room and do not let me ever catch you roaming these hallways after curfew again, Miss Granger." He ground out her name like it was poison and glared at her with icy eyes. Behind the ice in his eyes was a raging fire. Hermione shivered and quickly ran away from him, her robes trailing behind her body as she fled. A few tears slid down her cheeks, made partially from fear, and partially from rejection.

_Everyday, like a power station  
You know it isn't good  
You know you're burning too much wood  
But I said if you burn out  
The twisted irony is  
Your ashes come home to me  
Come home to me  
Come home to me_

Hermione slammed the door to the bedrooms shut, not caring if anyone woke up, and dove quickly for her bed. Luck, it seemed, had decided to come back to her and not wake up any of her fellow female Gryffindors. Hermione was glad for the small gift and changed quickly into her pajamas. She tugged on the covers and threw them over her head, tears flowling more freely down her cheeks now. She wiped them away angrily and sniffled. Snape's rejection hurt her. She couldn't believe how much of an idiot she was. What had ever convinced her to try and kiss her professor? Hermione whimpered quietly once and then closed her eyes, determined to fall asleep.

_Yeah well your ashes come home to me  
Come home to me  
Come home to me_

As soon as Hermione was gone from sight, Snape grabbed his robes and flung them around his body, stomping back to his classroom. The tingling sensation in his lips had disappeared, but now it felt as if something was missing from them. He silently cursed Hermione and closed the door to his classroom behind himself, not paying attention to anything around him. He stumbled over to his desk and sat heavily in his chair. He looked around his classroom briefly before he grabbed his quill and scribbled violently on the assignment before him. A deep gash was torn through the middle of the paper and Snape glared at it. Damn Hermione Granger.

_You know well the circus gonna have you on a fucking mantelpiece  
The mantelpiece  
The mantelpiece_

Hermione walked sheepishly through the doors of her potions classroom. She had been dreading this class all morning, but she couldn't bring herself to skip the class, and so here she was, feeling like a huge fool. As she pulled out her chair and sat down in it, she felt as if all her defenses were being pulled away with the chair and she felt naked. The door behind her creaked open and Snape walked into the classroom, as angry and vile as he ever was. He walked past Hermione without flinching. It was as if last night had never happened. Hermione sighed gratefully and took out some parchment, preparing herself to take notes.

Hermione was packing away her stuff when Snape walked over to her desk. For a few seconds he stood there silently, just watching her arrange all of her things in her bag, but then he placed his hand on her desk and stared down at her. She looked up into his eyes, totally unable to defend herself.

"Please grace me with your presence for a few minutes after class, Miss Granger. There is something I must discuss with you. It shouldn't take too long, so don't worry about being late to your next class. You'll make it there will plenty of time for you to look through the textbook for errors before class begins." He looked at Hermione for a few moments longer before he stood up straight and walked back down toward the front of the classroom. He picked up an eraser and began to wipe the board clean.

Harry and Ron, meanwhile, were staring at Hermione with open mouths.

"Blimey, 'Mione, what'd you do to make Snape so mad? I've never seen him make that kind of face before." Ron gaped, unable to believe what he had just witnessed.

Harry looked at Hermione, then Snape, then back to Hermione. "Good luck, Hermione. You'll have to tell us all about it when, if, he doesn't murder you." Harry patted her on the back and walked toward the door with his bag hanging off his shoulder. Ron followed closely behind him, gazing over his shoulder every few steps. They finally left the classroom doors and Hermione felt alone.

As the last of the students straggled out of the classroom, Snape set down the eraser and motioned for Hermione to come to the front of the classroom. She looked around nervously, hoping that he was motioning for someone else, but she realized that she was the only person in the room and she grudgingly pulled herself out of her chair and dragged her feet to the front of the classroom. It seemed like forever had passed before she reached Snape. She cringed, fearing for the worst.

Snape cleared his throat and Hermione looked up at him, trying to search his eyes for any sort of clue or emotion. She found no betrayal of emotion in his eyes and gave up, deciding to ride out the events as they came. Snape began talking.

"i'm not sure what caused your behaviors last night, Miss Granger, but I hope you learned your lesson." Hermione nodded, looking down at her shoes. "I hope for your sake that there were no witnesses to your actions last night." You'd never have a chance at a normal life if anyone saw them, he thought, looking down at her. He felt a twinge of pity pluck at his heart, but his face betrayed nothing. He reached out his hand and placed it on top of her head and gently stroked back, flattening her hair. She gasped and looked up at him. "Forget about it, Hermione. Nothing good with come from this. If anyone saw what you did last night, you'd be alienated forever." Tears welled up in Hermione's eyes and she nodded, relief flooding her as she realized that Snape was not going to yell at her or scold her. In fact, she realized, he was comforting her. Or trying to anyway. Hermione sniffled and looked up at him. His face was still as rigid and serious as it ever was, but Hermione felt comforted by his unchanging nature. She closed her eyes tightly and threw her arms around him, then quickly backed away from him and ran from the classroom.

Snape watched her run and his heart felt a little heavier. His actions, no matter what he thought he felt, were better for everyone in the long run. He scratched his head once and sighed, turning back toward his desk to begin correcting papers once again.


End file.
